Slobberknocker Central Monday Night Recap #152
October 12th, 1998
The Opening Word:
Anyone see the fluff piece E! did on wrestling over the weekend? They
basically asked "is wrestling fake?", then answered that question by
showing a clip of Jay Leno at Road Wild. They played some comments from
Eric Bischoff about the resurgence of wrestling, citing the involvement of
mainstream athletes as part of the reason. (Dennis Rodman, Karl Malone and
Mike Tyson were all shown and mentioned.) They went on to point out that
"Stone Cold" Steve Austin was the WWF's biggest star, and how much of a
resemblance there was in WCW's Champ, Goldberg (though they did add that
Goldberg's style and mannerisms were different). They got a quick comment
from Vader (who was billed as an "Independent Wrestler"--my, word travels
fast). Kevin Nash had the last word, saying that what happens in wrestling
wasn't up to him, but to "the people who write this stuff!"
Nobody I care about is on "Monday Night Football", and you couldn't pay me
to watch "Ally McBeal", so that means my attention would be focused solely
on wrestling this week.
Before getting to the action, though, I thought I'd take a moment too
address a complaint that I often get, that the WWF is "too adult". My usual
response to that is to ask who said the WWF is children's programming in
the first place? That's meant to be a rhetorical question, but if one wants
an answer, that answer is none other than Vince McMahon. Although wrestling
has always appealed to some children, for decades it was generally aimed at
adults, mainly because until the 1970's children didn't have the disposable
money they do today. Throughout the 50's, 60's, and most of the 70's, while
children may have watched wrestling on TV, it was rare to see them in the
arenas. Vince McMahon then came along, wrapped it up in a shiny box with a
pretty bow, and declared it "safe" viewing for the whole family. He did
this because, at the time, it was financially lucrative to do so. He is now
taking the WWF in the opposite direction because, once again, it is
financially lucrative to do so. It's his company and he can do whatever he
wants with it and, as long as his home network (USA) agrees, so be it.
I would agree that there may be instances where the WWF crosses the line,
but in general we're talking about a form of entertainment in which the
main message is that violence solves every problem. Comparing the WWF to
WCW, and saying that WCW is "safer" viewing for children, all one is really
doing is ignoring the obvious and choosing the lesser of two evils. It's
pointless of me to defend the WWF's new adult direction because, at a
fundamental level, it's impossible for the WWF's critics to defend
wrestling as a wholly acceptable form of children's entertainment to begin
with. If, as an adult, you choose to not let your children watch the WWF,
then so be it. But if you then say that WCW is all right for them to watch,
I'd suggest you take a closer look and think things through the next Sting
comes out and beats someone up with a baseball bat. Is this really all
*that* much more "acceptable" than what the WWF offers? I can understand
being turned off by the sometimes sexual nature of the WWF, but that aside,
you're still talking about two different companies providing an identical
"sport": the goal of which is for one (or more) competitor(s) to beat the
hell out of his (their) opponent(s). At their very core that is what they
share in common, with only the way they present it being different. VERY
different. Saying the WWF is "wrong" for being more controversial is as
silly as saying that Pepsi is "wrong" because it has a different flavor
than Coca Cola. They're both soft drinks, people, and to be honest, neither
one is very good for you.
Now, I like the WWF's new direction. As an adult, it's new, tougher "edge"
appeals to me. That's not to say, however, that I dislike WCW because they
are in any way "childish". There's a difference between delivering a
product aimed at children, and delivering a product aimed at, well ...
whatever the hell it is WCW is aiming their product at now. I have no
problem with WCW making their product accessible to a larger audience. What
I do have a problem with is subject matter which insults the very
intelligence of those fans, to the point where only children could enjoy it
because they do not look at it with the same critical eye an adult would.
I don't know if that's very clear, but I just wanted to convey the notion
that if and when I do use such terms as "childish" to describe WCW, I'm not
knocking them because they're attempting to appeal to children, but because
they are selling themselves and their fans short. Got it? Good, because I
have more to say on the subject, but I'll save that for the end of the
Recap.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
WCW Monday Nitro:
Live/Taped: Live.
Length: Three Hours.
Location: Chicago, Illinois.
HOUR ONE Hosted By: Tony Schiavone, Mike Tenay and Larry Zbyszko.
- Eric Bischoff is in the back hassling some United Center employee about
letting Ric Flair in when he shows up (describing Flair as having "white
hair and a big nose!") The security guy asks Bischoff who he is? Eric
then goes out and chews out the assembled security crew, saying they
better not let Flair in this week.
This is followed by nearly 15 minutes of Nitro clips, Thunder clips,
commercials, and Halloween Havoc promos (including an insert for "Bride
of Chucky" which, if you listen closely, includes the "spooky laughter"
which has been haunting the WCW arenas of late. So much for that
mystery). We also get fireworks, Nitro Girls, and tons and tons of hype
from the announcers. Matches are run down (including Goldberg vs. the
Giant in a no-DQ match, and the NWO vs. the Wolfpac in a six-man match).
By my clock it was 17 minutes after the hour before they get to ...
- WRATH vs. LODI
Lasting maybe two minutes, Wrath gets the squash win with the Meltdown.
Afterwards Meng comes out and gets into a slugfest with Wrath.
Nitro clips followed. After the commercial and another long string of
promos and such, it's now almost 25 minutes past the hour before they
start the next match.
- KENDALL WINDHAM vs. DALE TORBORG
Neither man gets an intro. They are, in fact, just about to lock up as a
Goldberg/Diamond Dallas Page promo fades out. Torborg is a Power Plant
rookie who has been part of the pit crew for WCW's racing team (the
coveralls for which he wears in the ring). His father Jeff Torborg was a
baseball player and manager once upon a time. Mike Tenay gushes about
him being a hot rookie prospect. Fans chant "boring!" early in the
match. Torborg gets the win with an ugly kick, in the process possibly
blowing out his knee. As he's delivering the kick his left knee buckles,
and he collapses to the mat. He's barely able to crawl over for the
cover. To my eye he looks and wrestles like a smaller version of Kevin
Nash, which probably tells you how bad he is. His only offense was a
clothesline, a drop-kick, and the legdrop which looks like it'll put him
on the shelf for a while. The match seemed to last at least twice as
long as the five minutes it really lasted. Torborg is still down as they
cut away to a plug for the WCW Magazine.
- Promos, Nitro Girls, Nitro Party Video, announcer hype and Nitro clips
... we've almost hit the 40 minute mark now.
- Sting comes out and challenges Bret Hart to a match at the PPV. He also
challenges both Bret and "Hollywood" Hogan to a match for later tonight.
He gets a very good reaction from the crowd. The Warrior then suddenly
appears in the entryway. Boo's are mingled with cheers. He yells "speak
to me Warriors!" and some cheer, only to be drowned out by more boo's.
He cracks a joke about "how far a little dab of paint will take you!"
The fans, many not getting it, think the Warrior is badmouthing Sting.
In a long-winded speech he asks for Sting to let him be his partner
tonight. Only half the people in the arena seem to get it, and more
booing is evident when he wraps up with his "Same Warrior Time ... "
tagline.
I don't want to mislead you here: the reaction wasn't 100% negative. The
Warrior has some fans. Still, this was the most blatant anti-Warrior
reaction we've seen yet. Hey, maybe that's what they should do with him:
create an Anti-Warrior. I hear Renegade isn't doing anything.
- Fireworks celebrate the second hour, which is still about ten minutes
away. Mike Tenay gives a micro-condensed version of the past history
between the Warrior and Sting (omitting any mention of the "Blade
Runners", thankfully). He pounds home the fact that they haven't teamed
in 12 years.
HOUR TWO Hosted By: Schiavone, Tenay and Zbyszko.
- "Hollywood" Hogan and Eric Bischoff come out to vent and accept Sting's
challenge. The Giant is with them, but he doesn't say anything.
Then, since RAW is just a few minutes away from starting, a WCW employee
catches Bischoff as he's leaving the ring, and tells him that the Four
Horsemen have arrived. Bischoff hustles to the back. Outside the
security force is eyeballing a white limo surrounded. In it are Flair,
the Horsemen, and "General" Bruce MacArthur, who is the owner of the
United Center (or his family is--they never make that clear). For the
next couple minutes they stand toe-to-toe yelling "this is my building
... no, this is my building ... no, this is my building ... I have a
skybox ... I have a lease ... this is my building ... I will sue you ...
etc." Ten seconds in it's clear that there's nothing that Eric can do to
keep them out, but for several moments he instead keeps ranting,
repeating the same lines over and over, yelling at Doug Dellinger for
not doing his job, that they can't do this, that it's his building, that
he'll sue, etc.
Now, I'm sure Bischoff thinks he's creating a great character for
himself, but in reality he just comes off as a rude, loud-mouthed jerk
who doesn't have a clue. It's just inconceivable that someone like this
could have achieved the power and position he has. I know I'm supposed
to hate him, and believe me--I do, but my first reaction when he starts
whining is to change the channel ... which I did once RAW started.
- Warrior/Hogan promo for Halloween Havoc, the tagline of which is "The
War Rages On". I can't think of many wars which have solely consisted of
smoke and mirrors, trap doors, spotlight signals in the sky, and NO
FIGHTING WHATSOEVER! (Other than maybe the Cold War'", and this is
exactly how this whole feud has left me: COLD.)
- More Nitro clips. Jesus, almost 65-70 minutes in and we've had less than
six minutes of wrestling!
- ALEX WRIGHT vs. FIT FINLAY
Wright badmouths the American fans, which was a really innovative
character gimmick when it was first done ... in the 1940's! Wright tells
Finlay he's going to take his revenge for Finlay ending his father's
career (Steve Wright). This, of course, means nothing to any of the
fans. A solid match, but one hard to enjoy from two guys who exude
negative charisma. Wright gets the pin (assisted by having his feet on
the ropes) when Finlay misses a dive and lands throat-first across the
top rope. The British Bulldog then runs out to attack Wright. He and
Finlay beat on him, until Finlay then attacks the Bulldog. I smell the
stink of another "Triple Threat/Triangle" match being set up; in this
instance to decide the "Best Wrestler From Europe Who The Fans Care
Nothing About".
Heading to the break they plug "Mortal Kombat: Conquest", the new series
which follows Nitro on TNT. Followed by "Babylon 5" and a movie, that
means it'll be four hours later (3:00 AM Eastern) when the Nitro Replay
finally airs. They might as well just drop it altogether. Word is that
Nitro must end at, or very close to, the 11:00 PM Eastern mark, so as
not to delay the start time of the show's new episodes. No more running
over, until all the first-run episodes of the series have been aired.
TNT will probably then let up once the reruns cycle around. (And, from
what I've seen so far, assuming there will be a second season for this
show may be a bit premature.)
- LA PARKA/CICLOPE/VILLANO V vs. CHAVO GUERRERO, JR./PSYCHOSIS/SUPER CALO
Calling all Mexicans! Non-stop action, with very little effort put into
delivering a cohesive match which meant anything (other than setting up
the post-match angle). All high spots, with Chavo getting the pin
completely out of nowhere following a Tornado DDT on Ciclope. Eddie
Guerrero and the Latino World Order come out and add Psychosis to their
group, giving Chavo the cold shoulder. Fans, still not buying the LWO,
throw garbage in the ring. Chavo walks out talking to himself.
Early in the above match they show us Ric Flair and the Horsemen
partying in the private box, reminding us that SOMETHING COULD HAPPEN
ANY SECOND NOW! (In reality it just reminds most of us that we'd rather
watch Flair than all these Mexican wrestlers combined. All things
considered, though, I'd take this match over what we usually get.)
- Scott Steiner comes out. That's it, I'm outta here ...
Oh, all right ... Scott draws some heat telling the fans that Chicago
sucks. He then badmouths Buff Bagwell and his mother. Out those two come
and the scintillating banter back-and-forth continues. Things wind down
with Buff hitting Scott, Scott landing a low blow on Buff, then dropping
him throat-first across the top rope. Buff's mom looked concerned about
his neck. Pardon me if I just jump ahead and make the obvious assumption
that this is the latest in a long line of schemes to trick Rick Steiner.
The live crowd really ate this up.
- JUVENTUD GUERRERA vs. PRINCE IAUKEA
Disco comes out right away to interrupt the match by dancing, but Juvi
sends him packing. Disco would come out again a few minutes later and
try to interfere, but Iaukea knocks him off the apron. That leaves him
open for a Juvi Driver, with Guerrera getting the pin. No reaction
whatsoever from the crowd. Disco, meanwhile is attacked down on the
floor by Kidman. Disco runs around like a goof trying to flee from
Kidman.
I guess I wanted to see some angles introduced into the Cruiserweight
Division, but not really like this. Disco is just playing a comedy
character, and clearly is too heavy to be in the division. Kidman is put
over the other Cruisers, but still jobs regularly to the heavier
wrestlers. Juvi seems to have lost most of his fan support. Iaukea, who
just last week was being praised as the next big thing in the division,
loses this week on Nitro (and will do so again in a match against Chavo
Guerrero this Thursday on Thunder. Sorry to spoil that). Most of the
Mexicans are wrapped up in the LWO business, while wrestlers like Kaz
Hayashi, Evan Kourageous and Lenny Lane put in intermittent appearances
at best. Dean Malenko and Chris Jericho have moved on from the division.
Rey Mysterio is injured. Other than having more people in it, WCW's
Cruiserweight Division is every bit as messed up as the WWF's Light
Heavyweight Division.
- Kevin Nash comes out to work the crowd. Talking about Scott Hall, he
says that his being a former bouncer makes him good at beating up
drunks (a comment which doesn't seem to go over that well with the
crowd). Hall staggers out and challenge Nash to fight him "down there".
He gives Nash the D-X crotch-chop (which they don't show because
they cut away at the last moment). Hall runs away, Nash follows, and the
last thing we see is two limousines racing out of the parking lot. Ever
the lazy bastard, Nash figures out another way to get out of wrestling
this week. Tony doesn't let Mike Tenay follow, so we don't get to see
this week's bar fight. This scraps the planned six-man match between the
NWO and Wolfpac we were supposed to see tonight.
- CHRIS JERICHO vs. RAVEN
Who are these guys again? Raven, since they mercifully killed off the
Flock, has seen almost all of his time in the spotlight disappear. And
Jericho ... wasn't he just involved in some kind of angle with Goldberg?
It's like they're just pulling names out of a hat or something.
A feisty match between these two, with Jericho matching Raven in the
rougher style we usually see from him (and don't see from Jericho). The
match winds down with Jericho getting tripped onto a chair. Raven goes
for the DDT, but Jericho escapes and slaps on the Lion Tamer, getting
the surprise win. The commentary during the match explains what's really
going down here: Raven is nothing since he lost the Flock. I still can't
get into this weird push they're giving Jericho. He's a coward, acts
like a clueless putz, and does mostly comedy interviews, yet he still
wins most of his matches in a convincing fashion. Am I supposed to
laugh, boo, cheer ... what?
HOUR THREE Hosted By: Schiavone, Tenay and Bobby "The Brain" Heenan.
- "Mean" Gene Okerlund is in the ring to interview Rick Steiner. They are
interrupted by laughter, as Chucky appears on the big video screen. This
was really stupid. Chucky insulted the two in the ring, warned Rick not
to mess with Scott Steiner, and plugged his movie. He warns Rick that
he'll come get him if something happens to Scott. Really f***ing stupid,
and I'm not going to say anything else about it.
Okay, I've got to add this: EVERYONE acted as if Chucky was a real
person. Un-f***ing-believable.
- QVC will be doing an hour of WCW/NWO merchandise this Tuesday night at
8:00 PM Eastern.
- After coming back from a commercial the announcers talk about the
scrapped NWO/Wolfpac match. They then take another commercial.
- In an incredibly annoying, time consuming segment, Bischoff hits the
ring to rail on about the owner of the arena and Ric Flair. He calls out
the security crew. They then start making their way through the crowd,
headed for the luxury skybox. This takes forever, and they have to cut
away to the announcers, who are forced to fill time with mindless
babble. They eventually cut back to Bischoff, who finally reaches the
door of the skybox. A security team is already there to keep Bischoff
out. They knock, out comes Bruce MacArthur, and they essentially repeat
the scene from outside the arena ("this is my building ... no, this is
my building!") Bischoff shoves the guy and is jumped by his security.
They pounce (and pound) on him, tying him all up with restraints. Flair
comes out to dance as Bischoff is dragged away by security. Doug
Dellinger is seen smiling, and the announcers kill some more time
cackling about Bischoff's downfall. Minutes just tick by, until they
finally wrap up by showing Bischoff being dragged through the back to a
waiting car. (Not a police car, mind you, but just a regular car with a
flashing light on the dash.) We've seen the WWF do this a half dozen
times in the last year and they were all better than this. Some
amusement over seeing Bischoff roughed up aside, this was an incredibly
frustrating and tedious bit to have to sit through.
- THE GIANT vs. GOLDBERG
The Giant is wearing his WCW Tag Team Title belt, which reminds me that
they haven't been defended in two or three months. The canned
"Gold-berg!" chant starts playing and, inexplicably, just before they
cut to the back, they show some old guy nodding off at ringside. The
usual lengthy Goldberg entrance follows. The match itself clips by, with
the Giant doing a drop-kick, but that's about it. Goldberg slams the
Giant's head into the turnbuckle, hits him with a spinning kick to the
side, and bodyslams him. He gets ready to hit the spear, but Stevie Ray
runs in and whacks him with a chair. Did I mention this was no-DQ? Now
we know why. The Giant chokeslams Goldberg and makes a cover, but is
nailed by DDP. Long story short, Goldberg's 150th victory is a cheap
countout win. The crowd was loud enough, but didn't pop anything like
they used to do for him.
- "HOLLYWOOD" HOGAN/BRET "HITMAN" HART vs. STING/WARRIOR
The intro's, as usual, take forever, with a commercial being taken after
Michael Buffer does the "let's get ready to rumble!" bit. The crowd
being somewhat quiet after Sting comes out, we can actually hear what
the Warrior's intro says when he makes his entrance:
"The target is scoped and locked for destruction. Take the target out."
I wish I didn't know. Anyway, the Warrior huffs and puffs his way to the
ring, looking like a total jack-ass when he runs in place and shakes the
ropes. I didn't get what fans saw in him in 1988, and I still don't see
it in 1998. Almost ten minutes go by from the time Buffer started to
when Sting and Hogan first lock up. Hogan quickly tags Hart in. He and
Sting go at it for a few minutes, until Sting makes the hot tag to the
Warrior, who can't even be bothered to take his coat off. Hart just
stands there and lets the Warrior hit him with a clothesline. Repeat.
Repeat. The Warrior signals for the Gorilla Slam, but Hogan comes in and
hits him in the back. The Warrior points at Hogan, causing Old Baldy to
practically piss himself in fear.
Out comes the Giant leading the NWO rescue squad. He headbutts the
Warrior in the back of the head. The Giant then holds him as the others
take shots. The fans start pelting the ring with toilet paper (they came
prepared) and drinks. The mystic steam starts pumping out of the corner
posts, but the Giant screws up and tosses the Warrior to the floor
(instead of letting him escape in the fog like I assume he was
supposed to). Schiavone gamely suggests that they threw him out so he
couldn't escape, (i.e. they let him run away so he couldn't escape.
Think about that one for a moment). Sting then makes a dramatic
appearance--assisted by the camera not showing him climbing into the
ring, so it seems like he just appeared from nowhere. Sting has two bats
and chases everyone out of the ring. The Warrior manages to get hold of
Hogan's weight belt and whips him and the Giant down the aisle, the two
selling it like they're being killed.
That's enough for this week.
- This Thursday: Taped show, with nothing announced.
- Next week: Nothing announced.
Comments:
Last week the matches sucked, but what went on outside the ring was often
interesting. This week was almost the opposite. Several of the matches were
okay, but there was so much filler, and the stuff outside the ring was
really bad. The Chucky interview, in particular, was one of the worst
things I've seen in wrestling in ages. It wasn't funny, it wasn't clever,
it wasn't witty ... what it was was a rubber puppet whose moving lips
didn't match the words coming out: words which were a blatant plug for a
movie which has nothing, repeat, NOTHING to do with wrestling. Finally
something has come along that is worse than the time when Jim Ross
interviewed the pig from "Duckman" over the phone on RAW. The only thing
that I can think of that's still worse, having to do with a movie tie-in,
is the time when Robocop came out to help Sting during a match. That, and
the whole "No Holds Barred" fiasco in the WWF. Do I even need to bring up
that "Bride of Chucky" is an "R" rated movie? I'm sure if the WWF did this
it would be used as proof that they're twisted and unsuitable to be viewed
by children. Honestly, though, the fact that WCW plugged an "R" rated movie
doesn't bother me one bit. I could care less if WCW wants to accept pay to
plug Hollywood movies. I just can't believe they actually had the audacity
to hype this last Thursday with their "big Hollywood star" nonsense. Just
plug the damn movie and get it over with. Don't turn it into an angle for
god's sake.
On a different subject, I don't think the Giant's appearance this week says
much of anything one way or another regarding whether he'll stay in WCW, or
jump to the WWF in December when his contract is up. On the one hand he did
do the job for Goldberg. On the other hand it was only a countout victory.
On the other hand he wasn't given any mic time. On the other hand he still
has his Tag Title belt.
Enough about WCW this week.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
WWF RAW is WAR:
Live/Taped: Live.
Length: Two Hours+.
Location: Long Island, New York.
WWF RAW Hosted By: Jim Ross and Jerry "The King" Lawler.
- Clips from last few weeks open the show. Then in a pretaped piece they
show Vince McMahon arriving at the arena. Vince has foregone his usual
chauffeured limousine and decided to drive himself, in a shiny white
Corvette convertible. Vince has a little trouble getting an employee to
open the steel shuttered door, and complains about it to Commissioner
Slaughter, Pat Patterson and Jerry Brisco once he's parked. They've
brought a motorized wheelchair for him, as he still has his left foot
wrapped in a cast. Vince wants the big door left open, so that Steve
Austin has no trouble getting into the building.
- The New Age Outlaws hit the ring. Road Dog does his usual. Billy Gunn
then takes the mic, says he's had a few days to think things over, and
delivers his "suck it!" line. All is well in DeGeneration X.
- THE NEW AGE OUTLAWS vs. LOD 2000
Darren Drozdov has replaced Hawk who, dressed in street clothes, joins
Ross and Lawler for color commentary. Lawler asks Hawk if he's sober.
Hawk says he is, and is working on reestablishing himself as a
competitor in the WWF. He says he supports Droz as his replacement while
he gets his life back together. He blames his problems on pain pills
taken over the years.
The match ends before we can get much of a look at the new LOD, as the
Disciples of Apocalypse, along with Paul Ellering, run out and attack
Hawk. Animal and Droz come to the rescue. As the Outlaws look on,
(having won the match by countout), Road Dog is attacked by the Head
Bangers, who smash a boombox radio over his head. Jim Ross makes a
nuisance of himself by TWICE saying it couldn't have been a JVC Kaboom
Box because JVC's don't break. Road Dog sports a bloody forehead from
the attack.Funny how you can revitalize a tag team division with just
one pair of coordinated run-ins.
Jim Ross talks about Vince McMahon's invitation to Steve Austin to
appear tonight, and how it must be some kind of trap. he and Lawler also
discuss how McMahon, cranky from his attack at the hands of Steve Austin
last week, has decided to take it out on the entire WWF, and that his
first act was to strip the Intercontinental Title from Triple H because
of his bad knee. An eight man tournament tonight will crown the new
champion, and we won't know the participants until they actually come
out for the four first round matches.
McMahon, in his private trailer, is keeping an eye on who enters the
building. Kane is shown walking in.
- STEVE BLACKMAN vs. KEN SHAMROCK
This is the first match of the IC Title tournament. Blackman is just
coming back from a knee injury, and Ross says Vince McMahon forced
Blackman to come back early to be part of this tournament. They show a
clip from two months ago of Blackman being suplexed by Shamrock, who had
snapped following an attack by Owen Hart and Ken Shamrock. When Shamrock
comes out the fans forget that they're supposed to boo him (forcing Ross
to comment on a negative reaction which isn't really there). In the
match itself Blackman gets in a little offense, but Shamrock has little
trouble working over the bad leg, getting him to tap out in a
submission hold.
The two are then attacked by someone who looks a lot like the Blue
Blazer. What the hell?! This causes Shamrock to snap and he slaps an
anklelock on Blackman again, which almost causes him to have his win
reversed.
McMahon looks on as the Undertaker arrives.
- They show Terri Runnels and Val Venis making out. They then show a
Goldust video, which rather gratuitously shows him beating Razor Ramon
for the Intercontinental Title, as well as beating up "Rowdy" Roddy
Piper.
- VAL VENIS (w/ Terri Runnels) vs. MARC MERO (w/ Jacqueline)
2nd tournament match. Ross points out that the ring announcer knows the
IC tournament competitors, but they don't. Jacqueline comes out wearing
the new WWF Women's Title belt. Ross, in hyping upcoming RAW locations,
mentions that Motley Crue will be appearing on RAW in a few weeks.
Another quickie match, with Venis getting the win with a Perfect-Plex
(and a distraction job by Terri). In retaliation Jacqueline attacks
Terri. CAT FIGHT! Nothing pops out, though.
Paul Bearer's arrival is shown, which took place during the match, but
was saved for after. McMahon is shown asking his flunkies why Bearer is
there? Patterson says he doesn't know, to which McMahon replies that Pat
doesn't know a whole lot.
- Michael Cole gets a few comments from Sable as they show footage of her
on "Pacific Blue". Sable then runs into Jacqueline's dressing area,
grabs her by the hair and drags her out into the arena. CAT FIGHT #2!
Again nothing pops out ... dammit.
They replay it after the break.
- MANKIND vs. MARK HENRY
In a taped interview Mankind says the chairshot Ken Shamrock delivered
was the weakest he's ever suffered. He then tells Ken he has one word
for him: "Socko!" (Yup ... the sock puppet.) With Henry's entrance we
get a recap of his sexual harassment lawsuit against Chyna. A taped
clip shows Henry reading a love poem for Chyna's benefit. Chyna comes
out to the ring moments after the match starts.
Henry dominates to start out, but after a missed splash off the
turnbuckles, Mankind hits a DDT, then pulls of his shoe. Placing his
skanky sock on his hand, he uses Mr. Socko in conjunction with the
Mandible Claw to put Mark Henry to sleep. After Henry comes to Chyna
confronts him, asking him why he's suing her. He says it's out of his
hands now and walks away.
A huge truck pulls into the building. It's Steve Austin, at the wheel of
a cement mixer. Austin gets out, checks out the parked cars, and goes to
ask the employee at the door a question--presumably which of the cars
belongs to McMahon. After the break Michael Cole asks Austin what the
hell he's going to do? Austin tells him to have someone fetch Vince. Cut
to McMahon being informed that Austin has arrived with a cement truck.
Brisco and Slaughter say they'll go check it out. On his way out
Slaughter trips and falls on Vince's foot. Vince, probably thinking the
camera is off, forgets to yell.
Now it's the WWF's turn to jump the gun, marking the start of the second
hour seven minutes early.
WWF WAR ZONE Hosted By: Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler.
- JEFF JARRETT Vs. X-PAC
Yet another quick match. The ref is accidentally hit by X-Pac as he is
working over Jarrett in the corner. X-Pac then goes for the Bronco Ride,
but Jarrett catches him in the groin with a boot (great move). Jarrett
then drops to the floor and retrieves a guitar case from beneath the
ring. Instead of holding a guitar, though, it holds Al Snow's Head. As
Jarrett puzzles that over X-Pac rolls him up from behind and gets the
pin. Al Snow then runs in, retrieves his Head, and exits through the
crowd.
In the back Austin rolls the cement mixer up to McMahon's Corvette.
Extending the folding trough, Austin dumps tons of wet cement in through
the convertible's roof! Oh man, I can't believe they trashed a Vette!
Once the car is full the rear and side windows shatter, and the still
flowing cement spills onto the ground of the parking area. McMahon, as
you'd expect, goes ballistic.
- Austin hits the ring to tell McMahon that his "invitation" went to the
wrong address, winding up at the "Austin 3:16 Construction Company".
Austin says when it comes to the main event this Sunday, the only hand
he'll raise in victory is his own.
Out comes McMahon in his motorized wheelchair. Austin charges, but stops
short when he sees McMahon has been joined by an ominous looking
bodyguard in a mask and S.W.A.T. gear, as well as a pair of guards in
"Police k-9" shirts holding back German Shepherd dogs in short leashes.
The dogs hold Austin at bay. McMahon asks Austin who he thinks he is to
trash his car like that and do the other things he's done. McMahon
informs Austin that as punishment, he'll have to team up with the Rock
in a match against the undertaker and Kane later in the evening. The
crowd starts to chant "asshole!" McMahon asks "what's wrong with you
people?!" Austin tells him it looks like 15,000 people calling him an
asshole. McMahon then recounts the things Austin's done to him, breaking
down and almost crying when he relives Austin "violating" him with the
enema tube last week. McMahon tells Austin that he'll pay by having to
declare either the Undertaker or Kane the new Champion on Sunday, or
else McMahon will fire him! Austin says McMahon doesn't have the balls
to fire him (which the censor unsuccessfully tries to bleep out).
McMahon replies "I have balls the size of grapefruits, and come this
Sunday you'll be spitting out the seeds!" McMahon says he hopes the
"Austin 3:16 Construction Company" can give him a rear view mirror,
because Austin will need eyes in the back of his head for the rest of
the show.
- VAL VENIS (w/ Terri Runnels) vs. KEN SHAMROCK
The best match of the show thus far. Shamrock starts off with an attack
before the bell, working on Val's back and legs. A long stretch sees
Shamrock with a Boston Crab, and Val struggling to escape by reaching
the ropes. After he gets free he gets in several moves, only to have
Shamrock come back by catching Val with a low shoulderblock to the shin.
Shamrock slaps on the ankle submission for the win.
After Shamrock leaves Goldust appears. Goldust goes through his usual
gyrations, shimmies out of his robe, then goes to work on Val. Propping
him up on the second turnbuckle, he lays in a running kick to the Big
Valboski. Ouch!
McMahon is in the back, mourning the loss of his convertible. Mankind
shows up and volunteers to dig through the concrete for McMahon's
briefcase, which was left in the car.
- Michael Cole gets comments in the back from the Rock. D-Lo Brown and
Mark Henry show up, asking if the Rock thinks he's too good for the
Nation now? the Rock tells them to know their roles and shut their
mouths.
- X-PAC vs. MANKIND
A mix of styles, which works surprisingly well. X-Pac is able to do all
kinds of stiff shots on Mankind, who takes it all and keeps on coming.
Early in the match Mankind goes for a chair, but the ref talks him out
of using it. He eventually sends X-Pac to the floor, which seems to be
the beginning of the end. Mankind follows, just as Ken Shamrock makes
his way to ringside. Mankind hits X-Pac with a swinging neckbreaker. He
then tosses him back in, at which point Shamrock takes the opportunity
to retrieve the chair that the ref had thrown out, and nails Mankind in
the ankle. Stumbling as he makes it to his feet, Mankind is rolled up
from behind by X-Pac, who gets the pin. Shamrock then assaults X-Pac,
mauling him before their final match for the IC Title. Mankind tries to
help, but is halted by the arrival of Patterson, Brisco and Slaughter,
who tell him that McMahon wants him in the back. Several WWF officials
are required to get Shamrock off X-Pac, and they have to scatter when it
looks like he's going to snap again.
- X-PAC vs. KEN SHAMROCK
Hunter Hearst Helmsley comes out to check on X-Pac and root him on. The
damage has been done, though, and Shamrock cruises to victory, applying
the anklelock for the win, becoming the new Intercontinental Champion.
- "STONE COLD" STEVE AUSTIN/THE ROCK vs. THE UNDERTAKER/KANE
These four have been delivering great matches on TV lately, and this one
is no exception. Paul Bearer comes out early in the match, but does
nothing to interfere or affect the outcome. D-Lo and Mark Henry, on the
other hand, come out and, several minutes into the match, attack the
Rock down on the floor, effectively taking him out of the match. (So
much for the Nation.) Austin, now by himself, fights against both
opponents for as long as he can, until he's nailed from behind in an
attack by the masked bodyguard of Vince McMahon. Wielding a nightstick,
once the mask comes off we see that the Big Bossman has made his return
to the WWF in spectacular fashion! The Big Bossman, AKA Ray Traylor,
looks fast and lean, having lost a ton of weight. He looks on, as does
McMahon from the stage, while the Undertaker and Kane beat on Austin,
working over his knee, until the show fades out.
- Next week: Nothing announced.
Comments:
Not as good a show as I'd have expected, but still pretty good nonetheless.
I'm a little disappointed at how many if the IC tournament match were just
blown through. The main event rocked, though, and the storyline throughout
the show was top-notch as well. The whole show just flew by.
In case you didn't know, the Blue Blazer used to be played by Owen Hart.
I'm merely guessing that that's still the case here.
Sunday Night Heat will be live again this week, serving as the countdown
show for the PPV. Speaking of which, here is the card:
* Undertaker vs. Kane. WWF Championship Match. Austin special referee.
* Shamrock vs. Mankind. Intercontinental Title Match.
* X-Pac vs. D-Lo Brown. European Title Match.
* New Age Outlaws vs. the Head Bangers. Tag Team Title Match.
* Taka Michinoku vs. Christian. Light Heavyweight Title Match.
* Goldust vs. Val Venis.
* The Rock vs. Mark Henry.
* LOD 2000 & Droz vs. the DOA & Paul Ellering.
* Marc Mero vs. Al Snow.
... or so the WWF website says. I'm not sure if all of these matches were
actually mentioned on TV.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Bottom Line:
To get back to my thoughts at the beginning of the Recap, I think WCW is
in serious trouble in terms of focus and the audience they're trying to
appeal to. To be honest I couldn't tell you how well WCW is doing when it
comes to appealing to children. I do know they are doing good business when
it comes to merchandise in that area, and TV ratings are good enough to
assume many kids out there are watching. But as you move up the age scale,
and, more importantly, the critical reaction scale, WCW is a boat which is
starting to take on water. The best way to judge that is by the reactions
of the fans at the arenas themselves. This week I saw more booing at a WCW
event than I can remember, and this is part of a clear, steady progression
from similar responses in recent weeks. Fans just aren't buying huge chunks
of what WCW is trying to give them. The Warrior's diehard core of fans
aside, his involvement with WCW has all but crashed and burned. "Hollywood"
Hogan is turning the fans off in droves. Fans threw garbage at the LWO.
They've stopped chanting Goldberg's name and cheering like they used to.
Kevin Nash drew a mixed reaction when badmouthing the alcoholic Scott Hall.
Chicago has been a big WCW town, but the crowd I saw tonight at times
looked like they had come expecting hockey or basketball--anything but what
WCW was showing. The most over wrestler of the night was Ric Flair, and
there WCW pretty much screwed over the live fans by forcing them to watch
his exploits (what little there were) on the big screen. WCW has gotten
some fairly negative feedback from the live fans the last few weeks, and
tonight's may have been the ugliest yet.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
This Week's Winner: RAW.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Slobberknocker Central" and "Monday Night Recap" are copyright 1998 by
John Petrie, and all opinions expressed therein are his own, and not those
of "Internet Access, Inc". Check the "Slobberknocker Central" main page for
info on how to receive the "Recap" free via E-Mail every week.
Volume One, Number 152 of the "Monday Night Recap", October 12th, 1998.